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Toyota made basses? Check this out
- Thread starter Spirit of Ox
- Start date
The owner of Hammond organs
is not
the car and motorcycle factory.
They are founded by 2 different Suzukies
I'm pretty sure they didn't make it, but rather it was just logo'd; the factories would do short runs of instruments for anybody who wanted to place an order.
devnulljp
Supporting Member
I lived in Japan in the 90s. You would literally see piles of these trashy 60s and 70s guitars in junk shops for $50 each. Like, literal piles of them on the floor.
The salient point regarding well known manufacturing brands that also marketed instruments is as follows:
Although here is a backstory to the personalities and origins of many highly successful oriental brands enjoying household familiarity in the west.
The truth is that most of these brands in time became huge corporations. Conglomerates that grouped together under one banner, a great many very diverse operations.
Often, some of the enterprises that formed parts of any given major conglomerate, were not initially, commercially viable at all. At times particular areas of the major group hopelessly lost money, or at least weren’t making any.
However, because of the manner in which these huge corporations were structured, under Japanese law, the struggling parts of the overall business were able to be financially supported and thus in their accounts, were viable because the successful parts of the corporation gave or lent money on favourable terms to the parts of the corporation that were struggling.
In the west, lacking such overall business structural support, businesses failed and were lost. Later, many became bought out by large successful businesses and sucked into their operations. However, although they were now part of a successful business, the underlying reasons for their failure were often never properly addressed, correctly resourced and deal with.
As western companies got bigger with more market share by reason of buying up more and more failing businesses (but not efficiently turning them around) the seeds were sown for the creation of huge businesses in the west that were effectively failing, in comparison to their foreign competitors. In addition, the business portfolios of such beginning to falter western corporations were so very broad, that their brand identities became lost to the public’s cognisance, and that further eroded commercial success.
If you are an automobile manufacturer with over twenty different brands in your corporations, its difficult for the public to know exactly what your company stands for. Brand identity is extremely important.
Its more complicated than that because whereas after WWII in which the ideas were developed, many successful western automotive manufacturers rejected ideas like Statistical Process Control. Japanese manufacturers saw the sense of such ideas, and used them to improve the reliability of their products.
Western businesses by contrast at the time had captive markets by reason of trade controls, and wrongly believed they could forever continue selling their less reliable or unreliable to the faithful, patriotic public. They didn't see any point in spending money on such improvements in peace time whilst their businesses were in profit.
By contrast, Japanese manufacturers following WWII had nothing to lose by trying to have finger in any pie that was going, competed on terms not available to western manufacturers, and developed brands that were reliable and proven to be trustworthy. Anything they then put their name on became believably trusted in the public’s eyes for good reason.
Today, almost every major corporative automotive manufacturer wants to have a presence in every sector of the market. As the research and development costs involved do not make that financially viable; they collaborate with other major corporations, share the research and development costs and make specific large parts which when put together with other corporation’s specific large parts, mean making a model in a given sector now becomes a viable financial proposition.
In a similar manner, today, certain oriental instrument manufacturers fabricate products for many different manufacturers, which are branded accordingly. This enables the largest instrument corporations to have a presence in every price sector of the overall market.
There are some exceptions to this, where particular western manufacturers have the size to place and develop their own discrete operations in another country. The advantage of this is that they have full control over the quality of the factories designs and output.
Thus producing what they consider to be marketable at the right quality and price for their target sector.
Where basses are concerned a BMW designer produced an instrument for Ernie Ball’s operation to manufacture.
This is because at that time in BMW, all their top designers had to spend 50% of their time working on BMW’s products, but were allowed and encouraged to spend the other 50% of their time designing what they wanted.
Whatever their innermost passions led them to design. It’s a way of keeping the designer’s ideas fresh, innovative, new and market leading as opposed to being market following. Usually, market leaders design clues are thus later found on a great many other products.
For instance, in the late 60’s and 70’s soft line styling became popular. The fronts of vehicles became less damaging to pedestrians in the lamentable event of a collision.
The lids of many HI-FI turntables lost their sharp angles and edges for more rounded edges. One famous instrument manufacturer that had long used the same headstock design, suddenly developed round edges to its headstock.
The manner in which class leading design and use of colour copies and spills over into the design of an endless array of products is quite mind blowing, but none the less, true.
Although here is a backstory to the personalities and origins of many highly successful oriental brands enjoying household familiarity in the west.
The truth is that most of these brands in time became huge corporations. Conglomerates that grouped together under one banner, a great many very diverse operations.
Often, some of the enterprises that formed parts of any given major conglomerate, were not initially, commercially viable at all. At times particular areas of the major group hopelessly lost money, or at least weren’t making any.
However, because of the manner in which these huge corporations were structured, under Japanese law, the struggling parts of the overall business were able to be financially supported and thus in their accounts, were viable because the successful parts of the corporation gave or lent money on favourable terms to the parts of the corporation that were struggling.
In the west, lacking such overall business structural support, businesses failed and were lost. Later, many became bought out by large successful businesses and sucked into their operations. However, although they were now part of a successful business, the underlying reasons for their failure were often never properly addressed, correctly resourced and deal with.
As western companies got bigger with more market share by reason of buying up more and more failing businesses (but not efficiently turning them around) the seeds were sown for the creation of huge businesses in the west that were effectively failing, in comparison to their foreign competitors. In addition, the business portfolios of such beginning to falter western corporations were so very broad, that their brand identities became lost to the public’s cognisance, and that further eroded commercial success.
If you are an automobile manufacturer with over twenty different brands in your corporations, its difficult for the public to know exactly what your company stands for. Brand identity is extremely important.
Its more complicated than that because whereas after WWII in which the ideas were developed, many successful western automotive manufacturers rejected ideas like Statistical Process Control. Japanese manufacturers saw the sense of such ideas, and used them to improve the reliability of their products.
Western businesses by contrast at the time had captive markets by reason of trade controls, and wrongly believed they could forever continue selling their less reliable or unreliable to the faithful, patriotic public. They didn't see any point in spending money on such improvements in peace time whilst their businesses were in profit.
By contrast, Japanese manufacturers following WWII had nothing to lose by trying to have finger in any pie that was going, competed on terms not available to western manufacturers, and developed brands that were reliable and proven to be trustworthy. Anything they then put their name on became believably trusted in the public’s eyes for good reason.
Today, almost every major corporative automotive manufacturer wants to have a presence in every sector of the market. As the research and development costs involved do not make that financially viable; they collaborate with other major corporations, share the research and development costs and make specific large parts which when put together with other corporation’s specific large parts, mean making a model in a given sector now becomes a viable financial proposition.
In a similar manner, today, certain oriental instrument manufacturers fabricate products for many different manufacturers, which are branded accordingly. This enables the largest instrument corporations to have a presence in every price sector of the overall market.
There are some exceptions to this, where particular western manufacturers have the size to place and develop their own discrete operations in another country. The advantage of this is that they have full control over the quality of the factories designs and output.
Thus producing what they consider to be marketable at the right quality and price for their target sector.
Where basses are concerned a BMW designer produced an instrument for Ernie Ball’s operation to manufacture.
This is because at that time in BMW, all their top designers had to spend 50% of their time working on BMW’s products, but were allowed and encouraged to spend the other 50% of their time designing what they wanted.
Whatever their innermost passions led them to design. It’s a way of keeping the designer’s ideas fresh, innovative, new and market leading as opposed to being market following. Usually, market leaders design clues are thus later found on a great many other products.
For instance, in the late 60’s and 70’s soft line styling became popular. The fronts of vehicles became less damaging to pedestrians in the lamentable event of a collision.
The lids of many HI-FI turntables lost their sharp angles and edges for more rounded edges. One famous instrument manufacturer that had long used the same headstock design, suddenly developed round edges to its headstock.
The manner in which class leading design and use of colour copies and spills over into the design of an endless array of products is quite mind blowing, but none the less, true.
The only time flats on a Toyota are a good thing
Interesting, however “oriental” is an adjective that in today’s world, describes rugs, not people.
Toyota is just one of several guitarinstrument manufacturers that also manufactures vehicles. The one I'm most familiar with is Yamaha.
and Yamaha is a Piano Company first and foremost (their logo is three tuning forks) so playing a Yamaha Bass and riding a Yamaha motorcycle are technically both oddities
If it were made in the 80s, it probably wouldn't be terribly overpriced at $1200
These environmentalists and their ‘electric’ guitars. What if you have a gig and can’t find a charging station?
Having lived in Japan for about 5 years in the late-90’s/early-2000’s, this doesn’t at all surprise me. Corporations like Toyota are massive and have their hands into literally everything over there.
It's only a matter of time before Elon Musk delves into guitars.
Yamaha worked with Toyota on the 2000GT
Yamaha, under the direction of Toyota, was primarily responsible for improving engine performance and for detailed design of the body and chassis.
Our Stories：12 Toyota 2000GT, from Trial Production to Manufacturing - Yamaha Motor History | Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd.
and there’s the yamaha rhino
The Tesla Bass. Has a self-playing function, but the bassist is expected to take back control at any moment lest it trainwreck your band.
